Truro Evangelism: “What do you mean I can’t be good enough?”

It has been several months since I was last in Truro for an open-air meeting, but with it being the only city in Cornwall, I think it is right that I try once a month to make my way into the city centre to preach the Lord Jesus.

The weather looked threatening when I arrived just after 1pm. Dark clouds were moving in, and soon there would be rain, but until the rain arrived, the outreach would take place. I set up my open-air board on Pydar Street, and I must admit I felt a bit discouraged. As I looked around, I saw many people, but I was on my own; outreaches are always harder when you preach by yourself.  Prayer was needed, so I sent a WhatsApp message to the Open-Air Mission workers requesting that they pray. I also asked the Lord to send help along. Nearly before I could say “Amen!” a lady approached me. I had met this lady last time I was in Truro for an open-air meeting; she had come along specifically to pray for the outreach, but soon she was handing out tracts and talking to people. Then another Christian family arrived to help at the outreach. We now had quite a team of people on the streets in Truro.

Since it is nearly Easter, I decided to hand out the tract, “Do you know why Jesus died?” As I offered the tracts to people, I encouraged them to consider the real message of Easter. It was encouraging to have many people take literature. Soon an older gentleman stopped to talk, he told me that he was a traditional Roman Catholic who only attends the mass in Latin, and hates Protestants. I smiled and told him that I am a traditional Protestant and that I respect that he is being consistent with his beliefs, even though I disagree with him. This warmed the man towards me, he said he could respect a Protestant that was truly a Protestant, and not one of those “buffet Protestants that pick and choose what to believe.” We chatted for quite some time, and soon it was as if we were old friends. Before he left, I offered him the tract, “What do you really know about the virgin Mary?” He looked at it suspiciously, so I said, “You respect me for being a Protestant, so let me be a Protestant to you.” He laughed, took the tract, and promised to read it.  

As this conversation finished, I then spoke to a young Christian who hadn’t been to church since Covid. It was good to be able to encourage him and to give him the book, “Only Jesus” by John MacArthur. He readily took the book saying how much he loves to read.

The weather at this stage was still threatening, so I thought it would be good to preach before the rain arrived. The message I preached today was, “The Way to Heaven.” In this message I look at three wrong ways that people think will get them to Heaven, and then I look at the one right way. As I started preaching, people began to stop and listen. One man wanting a bit of a laugh said, “How do I get to Heaven?” It was clear he was looking for a bit of a joust, so I replied, “What do you think?” He replied, “You need to be a Christian!” I followed up by asking, “Are you a Christian?” To which he answered that he wasn’t, nor did he want to be one. I was able to quickly explain the gospel to the man and call on him to trust in Christ. He laughed and walked away, but his actions drew more people in to listen.

As I preached, I mentioned that being good is not a way to Heaven. As I said this, a man named Derek called out, “Hang on! Isn’t that the way to Heaven? What do you mean I can’t be good enough?” This is the kind of heckle a preacher wants as it is a good question, and it opens dialogue. I asked Derek, “Do you think you are a good person?” He replied quite quickly that he indeed was a good person. His girlfriend also said that he was good. Derek had no Christian background, but he had heard of the Ten Commandments, and he believed they were a good moral code to live by, so I opened the Law of God to reveal sin, and to show that nobody is good. After explaining the sinfulness of humanity, I said to Derek, “If we can’t be good enough, how do you think someone can get to Heaven?” At this question, he called out, “Jesus!” He was right! It was a joy to be able to explain the gospel to Derek and all those listening. At the end of the message, the rain started to fall, and the crowd began to scatter, but before everyone left, Derek came forward to take a copy of the Gospel of John.

The Lord was truly good to us today. The gospel was proclaimed, and people heard of the Lord Jesus. Please pray for all those we encountered today.

SDG!